”Hello, my name’s Fletch”
Charles Sebastian Fletcher; it was a stupid bloody name as far as he was concerned. Then again, he didn’t really have a choice in the matter did he? He didn’t like anyone ever using his name, it just made him cringe. He could deal with Fletch or Fletcher but anything else might result in someone getting their teeth knocked out. It wasn’t his fault, you know, Fletch just had this temper, this uncontrollable, unquenchable temper. It had gotten him into some serious trouble back in England, hence is recent jaunt stateside to live with the arsehole that he was supposed to call Dad. Fletcher’s story was a long and troubled one, he didn’t particular care to dwell on it.
Having only been in the United States for just over a month, Fletch felt very much like a fish out of water. In London he was an amateur boxer, a pretty damn good one if he did say so himself but here in San Francisco, he was a nothing, a nobody….except the fact his dad owned like six hundred hotels. Joining this martial arts class was supposed to be a bit of fun, something to help him hone his skills and at least pass some time until he could go back to England. That’s what the whole thing was supposed to be and yet there he was, sat waiting for his bloody instructor to arrive. They were nearly twenty minutes late and Fletch was getting pissed.
Claire pushed the doors of the gym open, the look on her face was anything but happy go lucky; which was rare, very rare. What in the world was Nat thinking springing Eddie on the group like that? She was glad that Tas and Jeje weren't there. Thing would have gotten severely ugly fast. She as surprised her bro Dom hadn't snapped again just seeing the man there in the same building as his girl.
"Claire, your..." Marx began and then quickly took a step back as he saw the look in her eyes. He spun on his heels and looked over towards Fletcher. "That's her, good luck," he added as Claire stepped into the DJ booth and decked the DJ Robert once again for earlier and just for kicks. Shaking out her fist she stepped out of the booth and looked over towards Fletcher.
"Yeah, I'm Claire," she said in a gruff voice as she popped her knuckles. "Oh, you're my new student, welcome to hell; I'm the gate keeper."
Dear oh dear, she looked feisty, Fletch liked her already. "Well ain't you something? You try to scare all your new students like that? I'm sorry to break it to you sunshine but I don't scare so easy" This was going to be fun, Fletch could tell already that this girl wasn't going to put up with any of his usual bollocks and that was perfect. He loved a challenge. "Right then, first things first. My name's Fletcher, you're gorgeous, now come punch me in the face and we get this started" The Brit took off his thin jacket and folded it over his arm. He'd had a few trainers in his time but none so beautiful or tiny...damn she was small.
Claire chuckled slightly, to her he seemed like the usual fodder that came into the gym only to think because of her size and gender they could easily push her around. She had brothers, seven of them; she learned long ago not to put up with anything. Then of course was her bro Dom, they messed around a lot; nothing big but the man was a mountain so this guy was anything but intimidating.
Taking a step over to him, she didn't punch him; why would she? That was obvious. She dropped to a low stance, spun around and hit the back of his ankles at the tendons, sending him spilling out onto his back before she dropped on top of him and straddled him quickly, locking her ankles under his thighs. She didn't put him in a dead lock or pin him, simply leaning over him as she rested a palm at either side of his head on the floor.
"Well, that was educational," she said with a smirk. "When facing someone of a smaller size, you brace for speed otherwise you end up on your back.
"Not the first time I've been in this position funnily enough" Fletch spoke in a chuckle. "You're quite good at this sweetheart but let me tell you, this isn't my first dance" Placing his bruised and busted hands onto her waist before lifting her up and flipping her onto her back. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her down. "Thing about boxers gorgeous, especially east London ones, is that we're much stronger than we look, we have to be. So where's that smile at? It's very pretty" Fletch was loving it, this girl was right up his street. He'd only been with Claire for five minutes but already Fletcher was having the most fun he'd had since he landed in San Francisco.
"I know, your style is similar to those of the Londonderry area of Ireland. Wiry strength is common but you do lack one key thing," she said as her smirk grew. This guy was going to be interesting to train, he had good basics and some strength. If he honed it he could do well she figured; if he could get over the attitude. She shifted, her knees coming up and around him, crossing her legs over his chest before she twisted her wrists and took his. Pulling back she slammed his shoulders against the floor but kept his knees pinched down as she held his wrists.
"Flexibility."
Well this pocket sized rocket was much more than expected; Fletcher liked very much. He definitely wasn't expecting to have this much fun when he walked into the building that day. He looked up from his pinned position at Claire and a goofy, toothy grin crossed his rough as a box of wood face. "Well I've gotta admit this is fucking hilarious. I like you Claire, you can tell you've got some Irish blood in ya. A proper sort, not like any of the other princesses I've met since I've been here. So teach, what's next? Submissions? Striking? A drink?"
Claire scoffed as she looked at him, letting go of his wrists as she jerked her hip to the side and rolled them both over to their stomachs before she unlocked her ankles and jumped up; rolling her head around a bit as the joints popped. The guy seemed okay enough, least he wasn't raging like a lot of guys did when she pinned them down. Most went all testosterone on her and ended up losing any mental edge they could have if they bothered to take a minute to think straight.
"Some? Please, they don't call me the Irish Rose for nothin'. Me ma and pa born and bread in the Emerald Isle. Elder brothers to. Well, two of them. Rest of us born in Boston; which is pretty much as Irish as you can get outside of the island," she quipped, letting the full thickness of her natural accent show; something she toned down around most people. She stepped over to bag and patted it lightly. "The bag, I want to see your technique," she said as she waited for him to join her. "Come on, let me see what you got."
"Alright" Fletch followed the derriere in the gym shorts to the training bag and looked upon it. The thing was in good condition, would definitely be able to take one of his punches. Picking some gloves off the side, he slid them on and pounded his closed fists together a few times. Normally Fletcher wasn't one for using other people's gloves but for a face like Claire's he'd be happy to make the exception. He cracked his neck and got into fighting stance. To start he threw a couple of one/two jabs; simple enough. As the moments grew closer his speed picked up as did his power. It didn't take long for him to develop and throw some serious combination jabs, a few hooks and straights. It was obvious he had been trained and trained well at that. He was disciplined and focused in the ring, definitely a far cry from his usual behaviour.
Claire stepped behind the bag and braced it. She watched him intently and had to admit she was impressed with his technique. After a few minutes she let go of the bag and started to walk around him slowly; observing how he moved, which combos he seemed to favor. Stepping back into his line of vision she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a bit of a look as a single brow arched.
"Nice, are you seriously here looking for an instructor or are you just needing a sparing partner?" she asked rather bluntly. "Don't get me wrong, there is room for improvement but you have the basics down and then some," she said as she stepped behind him and put her hands on his hips. "You drive from your shoulders, add another eighth of a turn in your hips and you'll stay more steady if you get hit," as she turned his hips before her hands slipped to his shoulders. "And if you can increase your flexibility by just a small amount in your rotator cuff, you'll be able to drive with a lot more force."
"Am I allowed to say a bit of both? Don't want my skills to get rusty and well....you most probably can kick my arse so a sparring partner is definitely in the cards" Fletcher readied his stance again as Claire maneuvered his waist and shoulders to her liking. This was getting more interesting by the second. "So what would you recommend to get that flexibility up? I mean, if you've got time I can pay you for some off site lessons. I haven't always got time to come here so...you do house calls?"
"No I can do that, we can set up a schedule to work on technique and sparing. That isn't a problem," Claire said as she stepped in front of him and kicked out his leg a few inches with her foot. "Get lower, you're lanky compared to some of these guys. They're gonna come in high, you need a broader stance so you can under cut them more effectively," she said as she stepped back and dropped into a low back stance to demonstrate. "Your stance is great for traditional boxing but if you want to break in MMA or martial arts in general, gonna have to keep it low for your build."
Righting herself she thought for a moment, pursing her lips a bit before she picked up a kicking pad and tossed it up in the air, spinning around she kicked it and smirked as it nailed Marx in the back of the head. "I heard that you jackass," she remarked quickly as Marx jumped and rubbed the back of his head, mouthing a few choice words before walking off.
"Anywho," Claire said as she turned her attention back towards her new student. "House calls? Man I don't even own a car and I live within walking distance. Only places I am usually at is here, the uni, home or the hospital," she said but then shrugged. "Would depends on where you are at. As far as flexibility goes, you'll need a partner for that until we loosen you up a bit and you can do the movements on your own. I can take," she said as she pulled out her phone and pulled up her schedule. "Monday's and Wednesdays, but I'll have to ship you out to a student of mine for Fridays, don't worry she's good," Claire added as she put her phone back down.
"Monday's and Wednesday's are good for me darling" That toothy grin covered Fletch's handsome face again. "Just so you know, I don't actually live far away. The Royal Endeavour. you know the fancy hotel a couple of blocks away, I kind of live there. So you know, like...yeah just letting you know" Taking his new found trainer's advice, he lowered his stance and took a threw a couple of more punches to see if he could get used to the new style. "Not bad girl. You've definitely just got yourself a job."
Claire cocked a brow and gave him the oddest of looks. "Do I even want to know why your shacked up in some pretentious hotel? Claire asked and then waved the question away; was none of her business really. "Alright, I'll have my assistant put you down and it's Claire or Coach, I'll even accept Bitch. Not darling, sweetie, baby, girl, sweet cheeks, honey, or any other cutesie name you got tossing around in that block of yours," she said with a smirk playing on her lips. She had to give the man this, he was cute and had some skills but she wasn't sure if she wanted knock the cheeky grin off his face or not yet. Only time would tell.
